We Have to Keep Believing
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine
Any text in italics is Estella's rendition of Aida.
Chapter Ten: A Life Turned On Its Head
Katherine turned again in her bed. No matter what she tried, she couldn't seem to get to sleep. Finally giving up, she threw back the covers, put on her slippers, and headed for the kitchen. Maybe she could make herself something that would help her sleep. She wasn't entirely surprised to find that the kitchen was already occupied.
"Couldn't you sleep either?" Lydia asked, looking over her shoulder.
"I can't stop thinking about that letter," Katherine said quietly. "She seemed so scared. And why wouldn't she be allowed to write to us?"
"Maybe it's that man she wrote about - the one her mother's seeing."
"But why wouldn't he want her to write?" If anything, Katherine was just getting more agitated. "Clearly, there's something he wants to keep hidden."
"If I didn't think there was something wrong, I wouldn't be sitting awake now!" Lydia snapped.
"I'm not saying that!"
"You think you're the only one who's worried? She's my dorm-mate!"
"And that somehow gives you special status over me?"
"Young Mistresses had best stop this arguing before they is waking whole house." Kreacher, the Black family's aged house-elf, stepped out of the cupboard next to the stove he slept in.
"I'm so sorry, did we wake you?" Lydia gasped. "We were just - we're both on edge and we sort of started taking it out on each other."
"Kreacher is knowing everyone is on edge. Young Mistresses is missing their sister."
"That's part of it," Katherine explained, "and then we got a really concerning letter from a friend of ours, and I guess that was just the straw that broke the camel's back."
"Kreacher is understanding. Now, perhaps young Mistresses would be liking some hot chocolate?"
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"Both of you, come with me. And I think," Malfoy paused, glancing around the room, "one more."
"No! You can't do that!" Estella leaped to her feet. "Look, it's me you're upset with, so take me. But leave them alone."
"Now, I couldn't do that. You can't always be alone. Besides," he added in a suddenly harsh voice, "by hurting your Mudblood friends, I'm hurting you more than anything I could do with you alone would."
Estella was tempted to contradict him again, but she bit her tongue. She knew he was right, and the more she argued for the other girls, the more she would prove his point.
"You." His steely eyes fixed on Hannah. "Come on."
"Oh, Hannah," Estella whispered. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."
"Don't. Don't you see, you're doing exactly what he wants."
"What am I supposed to do?"
"I don't know. But whatever you do, don't let him win."
"Come in," Malfoy snapped, not even giving the girls time to act of their own accord before shoving them through the door. "Now, let's have some fun."
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"Dad, I - we need to talk to you." Katherine hesitantly poked her head into the room where her parents, along with many other people the girls had come to know, sat working. "Can we come in?"
"Of course. What's wrong?"
"We - Lydia and I - got a letter from our friend, and we're worried."
"Do you have this letter?"
Lydia pulled the letter from her pocket and handed it to her father. "It's really short - and it's really vague, but there's enough there to get us concerned."
"I should say so." Regulus finished reading the letter. "Is it okay if I let some of the others see it?" At Lydia's nod, he handed it to his best friend. "What you make of this, Sev?"
Severus looked up from the letter in shock. "Teresa Palmer?"
"You know her?" Sirius asked.
"She's in my house. I'm shocked at this, I have to say. Teresa's mother came all the way up to the school to ask her to return home for Christmas. I can't believe she'd suddenly let something serious happen."
"Oh!" gasped Hermione suddenly.
"What?" Regulus asked. "What is it?"
"We've been going about this all wrong. I know what I was missing. The answer was right there, we just didn't see it. This woman - the girl's mother - was in the school the day Ellie was kidnapped, you mentioned it before. Isn't that just a bit odd to be a coincidence?"
"You're not saying -" Sirius began.
"I am. Ellie was kidnapped by this girl's mother. The mother then took Ellie to her boyfriend -"
"Lucius Malfoy," Harry finished.
"And now Teresa's in the house with Malfoy also." Severus added.
"Sweet Merlin." Draco moaned, putting his face in his hands. "That poor child."
"Draco?" Lydia asked worriedly. "What's wrong with Teresa? Is she okay?"
"I don't know," Draco answered honestly.
"I promise you girls that we'll do everything we can to make sure she's safe," Regulus promised. "If we're right, she's in the same place as your sister. And now we have another lead to finding both of them."
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"Hello, my beautiful one," Malfoy crooned to Teresa. "Did you miss me? I'm back now."
"No, no, please, leave me alone." She tried to back away but got only a half-step before hitting the wall. "I'll scream."
"And who will help you here?"
"My mother! My mother's here!"
"And you really think she cares about you? I'm the one she loves, the one she's always loved. Not you and not," his face was close enough to hers that she could feel his breath, "your blood-traitor of a father."
"You're lying," she whispered.
"Ask her." Malfoy's hand slipped under her skirt and into the waistband of her underwear. "But first, I want you."
"I'm eleven , and I'm your girlfriend's daughter. How disgusting -" She was cut off as he pressed his mouth into hers. She tried to fight him off but he was using the wall to his advantage.
"You're so beautiful," he whispered. "So beautiful. Touch me."
"What?"
He lowered his pants. "Touch me. Let me feel those wonderful hands of yours."
"No! I won't."
He quickly got one hand around her neck. "Do it."
Teresa knew that he wasn't making an idle threat. Her eyes filled with tears as she nodded. "Okay."
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"Why don't you just give him what he wants?" Julie demanded. "Stop letting us get hurt."
"Come off it!" Rose snapped. "You seriously think that'll work? If she gives him what he wants, he'll ask for something else. And even when he can't come up with anything to ask for, he'll still hurt her and us because he likes it. Because it makes him happy. Nothing Ellie does will change that. Now before we really jump down each other's throats, let's pick up on the story."
Ellie nodded, surprised by the sudden turn the conversation had taken but understanding Rose's point.
Just two days away from her wedding, Amneris was increasingly picking up the signs that all was not as it should be with her relationship. She and Radames had been increasingly distant for years, but now, now ...
"It's so strange he doesn't show me
more affection than he needs
Almost formal too respectful
never takes romantic leads
There are times when I imagine
I'm not always on his mind
He's not thinking what I'm thinking
Always half a step behind
Always half a step behind
Oh,oh,oh,oh
Oh,oh,oh,oh
Oh,oh,oh,oh"
Radames, meanwhile, felt the opposing pulls of duty and love. He knew he must marry Amneris; it was what was expected of him. But he knew his heart would forever belong to Aida - a Nubian slave who had meant nothing to him mere days ago.
"I'm in every kind of trouble
Can't you tell, just look at me
Half ecstatic, half dejected
All in all I'm all at sea
Easy terms I thought I wanted
Fill me now with chilling dread
You could never know the chaos
Of a life turned on its head
Of a life turned on its head
Oh,oh,oh,oh
Oh,oh,oh,oh
Oh,oh,oh,oh
Oh,oh,oh,oh"
Aida felt much the same pull as Radames did. She loved him; loved him with every fiber of her being. But she knew Radames was to marry Amneris, and that she needed to support her people above all else, now that her father could not.
"I am certain that I love him
But a love can be misplaced
Have I compromised my people
In my passion and my haste?
I could be his life companion
Anywhere but where we are
Am I leader? Am I traitor?
Did I take a step too far?
Did I take a step too far?
Oh,oh,oh,oh
Oh,oh,oh,oh
Oh,oh,oh,oh
Oh,oh,oh,oh
Oh,oh,oh,oh
Oh,oh,oh,oh
Oh,oh,oh,oh
Did I take a step too far?"
Aida was now beside Mereb, sneaking into the dungeon to see her father.
"Aida," King Amnosoro breathed when he saw her. "I knew you would survive. That I trained my daughter well. At least, I would not allow myself to believe anything else."
"Have they mistreated you?" she asked.
"No, I believe they are saving that part for my execution. Three days from now."
"It won't come to that," Aida promised. "We'll get you out of here."
"In two days, the daughter of the Pharaoh will wed," Mereb broke in. "Most of the guards will be needed to control the crowds."
Amnosoro turned to Mereb, noticing him for the first time. "And who is this young Minister of War?"
"Mereb. You remember, Henu's boy."
"Henu." Amnosoro nodded in recognition. "Your father was a great warrior. He had hopes you would grow up to be a scholar."
"Sire," Mereb said urgently. "The chief jailor will attend Amneris' wedding. They've assigned a lowly guard to take his place - a man I know."
"You are suggesting you may be able to bribe this guard?" Amnosoro repeated.
"Let's just say, we've done business in the past."
"That would take a lot of gold," Aida pointed out.
"I have it," Mereb assured her. "For years I've been stealing from the palace. I thought maybe, someday, I could use it to get back to Nubia. But if I can send my King home..."
"We will all be going home soon, Mereb. Now, how are the docks guarded?"
"By the Captain's soldiers," Mereb admitted.
"So the odds are slim," Amnosoro finished. "Can you use a sword, boy?"
"Me? Actually, I'm better at providing encouragement from the sidelines."
"A fight won't be necessary," Aida assured them, showing the amulet Radames had given her. "They'll let us through."
"Captain Radames gave you that?" Mereb asked.
"Who is this Captain?" Amnosoro asked sharply. "An Egyptian?"
"Yes, but he's not like the others, father," Aida said, her tone begging him to understand.
"He leads Pharaoh's army, and he did not lay waste to our country like the others?" Amnosoro wasn't budging an inch.
"He regrets his past."
"Aida!" Amnosoro yelled, losing his patience. "Do not shame yourself and me with such witless sentiment. Do not tell me this Egyptian grieves for the Nubian men executed, the women ravaged, and the children taken into slavery. Any soft look you have given this Captain, any soft word, betrays the innocents who suffered at his hands and at the hands of every soldier he commands. You will cut this man from your heart."
"Yes, Father," she whispered, even as she felt her heart breaking inside of her.
"I would not have thought it possible that these Egyptians could give me one more reason to hate them," Amnosoro grumbled.
Aida turned and ran out of the dungeon. Only when she was alone did she allow herself to express her feelings.
"This is the moment when the gods expect me
To beg for help, but I won't even try
I want nothing in this world but myself to protect me
And I won't lie down, roll over and die
All I have to do is to forget how much I love him
All I have to do is put my longing to one side
Tell myself that love's an ever-changing situation
Passion would have cooled and all the magic would have died
It's easy, it's easy
All I have to do is to pretend I never knew him
On those very rare occasions when he steals into my heart
Better to have lost him when the ties were barely binding
Better the contempt of the familiar cannot start
It's easy, It's easy
Until I think about him as he was when I last touched him
And how he would have been were I to be with him today
Those very rare occasions don't let up, they keep on coming
All I ever wanted, and I'm throwing it away
It's easy, it's easy as life
But then I saw the faces of a worn , defeated people
A father and a nation who won't let a coward run
Is this how the gods reward the faithful through the ages ?
Forcing us to prove that all the hardest things we've done
Are easy, so easy
And though I'll think about him til the earth draws in around me
And though I choose to leave him for another kind of love
There is no denial, no betrayal but redemption
Redeemed in my own eyes and in the pantheon above
It's easy, it's easy as life
It's easy as life."
I'm so sorry for the long delay. My life for the past month has been one big hectic mess. I'll try to update more frequently now.
